The Spirit and the Son. A better ministry. During his last evening with the Twelve in the upper room Jesus astonished them by saying: 'It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you' (Jn. 16:7). In what ways was the ministry of the Spirit better than that of the Son? In two ways. First, the Holy Spirit *universalizes* the presence of Jesus. On earth the disciples could not enjoy uninterrupted fellowship with their Master, for when they were in Galilee, he might be in Jerusalem, or vice versa. His presence was limited to one place at one time. But no longer. Now through his Spirit Jesus is with us everywhere and always. Secondly, the Holy Spirit *internalizes* the presence of Jesus. He said to the disciples: 'You know him [the Spirit of truth, the Counsellor], for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you' (Jn. 14:17-18). On earth Jesus was with them and could teach them, but he could not enter their personality and change them from within. Now, however, through the Holy Spirit Christ dwells in our hearts by faith and does his transforming work there. --- John R.W. Stott

THE BIG BANG THEORY. If Mary Cooper so loved her son, would she allow him to become a Papist? Sheldon's problem is not solved by treatment of Asperger's but rather an understanding of original sin and the sacrifices we need to make to heal our own wounds. Without a trace of didactic preaching, the "Big Bang Theory" teaches us the limits of modern rationalism and points to the rationality of revelation. (Amusingly, the founder of the Big Bang Theory in physics was a Catholic priest.) The sitcom may be viewed as a type of grace we see in Flannery O'Connor stories, when shocking (and comic) events make flawed people glimpse the ultimate truth-e.g., a philosophy student's horror at her lover's stealing her wooden leg. A similar grace may be present were a dogmatic scoffer and skeptic to view "The Big Bang Theory" and hear as though intoned by Fr. Schall, "Bazinga." --- Ken Masugi

Over 90% of gays and lesbians are NOT interested in marrying. In 2012 there were 18,000 gay or lesbian "marriages" in California. However, experts estimate 1.7% of the state's 38 million people are gay or lesbian - 646,000 people. Only 5.5% of the state's gays and lesbians married when they could do so.

My question for the Supreme Court - and America is simple. Why should 5.5% of 1.7% of the population force a redefinition of traditional marriage on a state or the nation? - Mike McManus syndicated columnist

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
April 26, 2103

The Primate of the Southern Cone, Archbishop Tito Zavala, preached in Burlington, Ontario recently at the opening service of the Anglican Network in Canada's (ANiC) regional assembly. He said, "I believe that postmodernity has infected the church, specifically the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada which are teaching a false gospel." How tactless. How direct. How refreshing.

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In Woodlands, Texas this past week, a new diocese in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) was formed with a new bishop in the person of the Rev. Clark Lowenfield. He is senior pastor at HopePointe Anglican Church in The Woodlands. He will become Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the Western Gulf Coast.

The newly formed diocese will consist of 12 churches throughout Louisiana and Texas. Lowenfield's responsibilities as bishop include overseeing these current and future congregations.

At his consecration inside The Woodlands United Methodist Church Saturday, priests, bishops and deacons from around the world gathered to celebrate and welcome Lowenfield as a leading member in the Anglican congregation. Among those in attendance were Robert Duncan, archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, and chief consecrator Rev. Nathan Gasatura, representing The Most Rev. Onesphore Rwaje, the archbishop of the Anglican Church of Rwanda.

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The Standing Committee of the Diocese of Fond du Lac has released information on its search process for the diocese's eighth bishop. Nominations are being received until May 15.

The bishop election will take place on Oct. 19 in the Cathedral of St. Paul, Fond du Lac. The ordination and consecration is scheduled to take place on April 26, 2014.

The eighth bishop will succeed the Rt. Rev. Russell E. Jacobus who has served as the diocese's seventh bishop since 1994.

The Diocese of Fond du Lac has nearly 6,000 baptized members worshipping in 37 locations across the northeast third of the state of Wisconsin.

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Clergy, congregants give solace to shaken Bostonians. A boy in a back pew stared stoically ahead through most of the Sunday Mass at St. Ann's Parish in Dorchester, where the family of the 8-year-old killed in the Boston Marathon bombings attends church.

But after Communion, his shoulders began to shake. He bowed his head and slowly brushed a tear from his eye, as if hoping no one would see. Without a word, an elderly woman a few feet away slipped him a packet of tissues.

At churches most directly affected by the bombings and their aftermath, congregants on Sunday mourned and comforted one another, taking refuge after a week of horrific violence in an hour or two of togetherness.

Two historic Back Bay churches, Old South Church (United Church of Christ) and Trinity Church (Episcopal), could not even open their doors because of their proximity to the blast sites; both are within a blocked-off area where police were still gathering evidence.

So they accepted other congregations' hospitality. The Church of the Covenant (Presbyterian) held a joint service with Old South, while Temple Israel, the city's largest synagogue, opened its doors to Trinity for a service that drew close to 900.

"It feels like the right way to have a church service, extending community and love to neighbors regardless of exact beliefs," said Dr. Phoebe Freer, a member of Trinity.

From pulpits across Greater Boston, clergy offered sermons on caring, kindness, and the power of community. At the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in the South End, Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley asked those gathered to answer the violence with love, not retribution aimed at followers of the suspects' faith.

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There has never been any doubt that Trinity Church on Wall Street in New York City is wealthy. But the extent of its wealth has long been a mystery; guessed at by many, known by few.

Now, however, after a lawsuit filed by a disenchanted parishioner, the church has offered an estimate of the value of its assets: more than $2 billion.

The Episcopal parish, known as Trinity Wall Street, traces its holdings to a gift of 215 acres of prime Manhattan farmland donated in 1705 by Queen Anne of England. Since then, the church has parlayed that gift into a rich portfolio of office buildings, stock investments and, soon, mixed-use residential development.

You can read the full story in today's digest.

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In the ongoing saga of corruption in the Church of South India, we learned this week that the former CSI bishop of Dornakal diocese B.S. Devamani (66) was found dead in tragic circumstances. Devamani, who had a controversial tenure marred by allegations of financial irregularities and sexual misconduct was found dead at his home in Hyderabad. Police broke open the door on receiving complaints from neighbors of a foul smell emanating from the house. They found the body of the former bishop and estimate he may have died three days earlier. An investigation into the cause of his death is underway. The bishop's wife Christina passed away last year and their four daughters are all settled abroad.

"Bishop Devamani was a cruel man and not many people will mourn his passing," said a senior CSI member in Dornakal.

Sources say Devamani was a product of the Parakal Mission in Andhra Pradesh that was pioneered by missionaries from Kerala, but he did not live up to the high ideals under which he was raised. The current CSI Synod leadership allowed Devamani to quietly retire last year despite serious charges of corruption against him. One reason for this was said to be the late bishop's support for the current leadership to come to power during the Synod elections in January 2012.

It took a legal notice on diocesan office bearers from some vigilant laity to prevent Devamani from walking away with a parting retirement gift of $740,000 from the diocese including a top end luxury car.

Dornakal is a small town in Warrangal district of Andhra Pradesh that became famous as the seat of the first ever Indian Protestant bishop V.S. Azariah who was consecrated in 1912.

The original story can be read here: http://tinyurl.com/beo253k

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The Global Gospel of St. Paul by the Rev. Tad de Bordenave, former president of Richmond, VA based Anglican Frontier Mission, gives new impetus as to why Anglicans need to reach out to unreached people groups who have never heard the gospel.

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The Boy Scouts of America has released a proposed resolution that will continue to ban homosexuals from serving as leaders, but will allow for "gay" boys to join the ranks. This resolution was drafted by liberal members of the BSA National Committee.

Here's the key language:

While the BSA does not proactively inquire about sexual orientation of employees, volunteers, or members, we do not grant membership to individuals who are open or avowed homosexuals or who engage in behavior that would become a distraction to the mission of the BSA.

Youth membership in the Boy Scouts of America is open to all youth...No youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone.

This doesn't make sense. The BSA resolution creates two standards of "morally straight" which are totally contradictory to each other.

In essence, the resolution doesn't allow a gay adult to go camping with boys, but may put an "experienced" gay 17-year-old inside a tent with a 12-year-old boy on his first campout. This creates a perfect environment for sexual abuse within scouting.

On May 23, the BSA will hold a vote on the resolution during its annual meeting in Texas.

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Many Christians will regret the outcome of the vote for 'same-sex marriage' in the French Parliament, which highlights concerns about news management in the mainstream media in Western societies.

It should not be assumed that the vote in the UK Parliament will go the same way. The key issue is how marriage as traditionally understood - a lifelong, exclusive commitment between a man and woman - contributes so significantly to the flourishing of human society. Although this matter is of particular significance to Christians (and people of other faiths), its ramifications extend into society as a whole: for example, its implications for what teachers will be required to teach children about same sex practice.

We encourage people who share these concerns to write to their MPs. For those who would like to know more, help is available on the C4M www.c4m.org.uk and Anglican Mainstream www.anglican-mainstream.net.

Syndicated columnist Mike McManus has weighed in on this issue from a strictly US perspective and you can read his column in today's digest.

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The Trustees of UK-based Anglican Mainstream are seeing a changing of the guard. The Rev. Andrew Symes, 47, has accepted appointment as Executive Secretary of Anglican Mainstream in succession to Dr. Chris Sugden. Symes will take up the appointment on 1st August 2013 and will be based at the Anglican Mainstream office in Eynsham, near Oxford.

Symes is currently serving in the Diocese of Peterborough as Priest in Charge of the Parish of Kings Heath, a deprived council estate in Northampton, and Anglican Minister, "Church on the Heath" Anglican/Baptist Ecumenical Partnership. He is Chair of Peterborough Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship and a member of the Church of England Evangelical Council. Andrew is married to Camilla and they have two teenage children.

Speaking of his appointment today, Andrew said: "As the nation loses connection with historic Christian norms and beliefs, there's pressure on the church to conform to society and lose its effectiveness in mission. Anglican Mainstream has played a vital role in bringing together those in the Church of England concerned about this, speaking out on their behalf, and linking them to the mature and prophetic leadership of the Global South churches and other orthodox Anglicans through GAFCON and FCA. I am honored to be given this opportunity to play a part in continuing and developing this work."

Following his retirement at the end of July, Canon Sugden will act as a consultant to Anglican Mainstream and will continue in his roles with the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (UK and Ireland) and Anglican International Development.

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Some 825 Christian delegates from more than 300 churches-including the Anglican Church of Canada -- will meet in Busan, Republic of Korea. Melissa Green, Nicholas Pang, and the Rev. Canon John Alfred Steele are official Canadian Anglican delegates to the tenth World Council of Churches (WCC) Assembly Oct. 30 to Nov. 8. This assembly, the WCC's highest governing body, meets every seven years. Working under the theme "God of life, lead us to justice and peace," the assembly aims to deepen churches' commitment to visible unity and common witness.

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Lee Gatiss of Church Society's article about the late Peter Toon Lecture given by former Rochester Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali is available with links to the CD/audio file online: http://www.churchsociety.org/issues_new/doctrine/heads/salvation/iss_doctrine_heads_salvation_ToonLecture2013.asp.

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Christian hymns dropped from Anglican school where 75 percent of pupils are Muslim. Assemblies at Slough and Eton Church of England Business and Enterprise College are not based specifically on the Bible, but may make reference to it alongside other religious texts.

Bowing to Muslim dietary requirements, the meat served at the secondary school, which has over 1,000 pupils aged between 11 and 19, is halal.

Headmaster Paul McAteer said the approach was to be "sensitive to the fact that we do have many different faiths in the school." As justification, he added that Christian values were "more prevalent here than I have experienced in non-Church of England schools."

McAteer also stresses that the Church of England describes itself as "a faith for all faiths. The values we support are very much Christian values of honesty, integrity, justice." The gender-separated prayer rooms at Slough and Eton, McAteer says were not specifically for Muslim pupils, but said that it tended to be Muslim children that use them.

He said 20 male students would typically attend a lunchtime Islamic prayer session at the Berkshire school.

One of the school aims outlined on its mission statement is "to promote tolerance and respect for all cultures represented in the school."

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The first ever study of the lives of Church of England clergy has revealed the personal costs of committing yourself to God.

Written by the Bishop of Brechin and Dr. Caroline Gatrell of Lancaster University Management School, the book Managing Clergy Lives (Bloomsbury) is based on in-depth interviews with 46 deans.

The Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Nigel Peyton (LUMS PhD Management Learning, 2009), said it was revealing that every interview was interrupted in some way by a caller at the door or on the phone.

"Being a priest is like being a monarch - you can't resign and your job is your life. You must always be available to people. As the vicar in the very accurate TV sitcom 'Rev' said, there is no such thing as a day off when you are a vicar. You do not have the same opportunities or freedom as other people and this does entail sacrifices."

Dr. Gatrell said the clergy developed strategies for coping with the loss of privacy involved in living in a vicarage, where there were constant callers.

Other emotional costs include the problems of being friends with parishioners.

Patricia noted, "There is almost a sense that if I have an intimate friendship with people in the parish then I am depriving them of their parish priest."

She felt she had paid a "high price" in sacrificing motherhood since nobody has asked her out since she was ordained. Living together is not an option for clergy whose behaviour is under constant scrutiny by parishioners, the Church, and God.

Spouses often resent the unofficial duties for which they did not sign up since they were not ordained. As one priest explained, "I am the only one handcuffed here."

The authors say that their research revealed a greater anxiety about the mixed blessings of ministry in this world rather than an interest in deferred benefits in the next.

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The United States Army has blocked the website of the Southern Baptist Convention from government computers, saying the Christian site contains "hostile content."

An Army officer assigned to a U.S. base said he tried to access SBC.net from his government computer, but instead, he got a message that said the site was being blocked by "Team CONUS": Team CONUS protects the computer network of the Department of Defense.

"The site you have requested has been blocked by Team CONUS (C-TNOSC/RECERT-CONUS) due to hostile content."

"So the Southern Baptist Convention is now considered hostile to the U.S. Army...it just corroborates the recent string of events highlighted by AFA," the officer wrote in an email to American Family Association.

This is just another example of the Christian faith coming under attack in the military. Earlier this month, an Army email listed prominent Christian ministries like the Family Research Council and American Family Association as "domestic hate groups."

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JOB OPENING: Anglican Church Planter and Technology Consultant

EXPERIENCED DATA BASE ADMINISTRATOR or SOFTWARE ENGINEER / ARCHITECT AND HALF TIME ANGLICAN CHURCH PLANTER

Christ Church Anglican on the mainline seeks a church planter with serious IT skills. We seek someone with unique software skills who will double as a church planter on Philadelphia's historic mainline. We are based in Wayne, PA. We seek someone who will work 25 to 30 hours per week with an early stage financial technology software development firm based in the Delaware Valley location either Western NJ or Eastern PA location and residence. Work location in the region is flexible. Medical coverage and competitive salary offered. Such a person must be prepared to work weekends and part time during weekdays and lead a CANA (Anglican) Church plant already operating in suburban Philadelphia. Weekdays serve as a technology professional in fast growing fintech software developer. Position reports to the CEO and founder of the business. Four or more years workplace experience in Java and/or C++ solutions or IOS programs required. Oracle D/B experience a plus. Become part of a team supporting a breakthrough product for the institutional capital markets partnered with a global financial information giant. Computer science, mathematics, and/or engineering degreed and back grounded person sought. Individual also should have relevant divinity degrees, some experience, and theological education with divine 'call' to work with an evangelical, Scripture focused CANA Church Plant in the region as senior or associate rector depending upon experience. Apply to Christ Church Anglican on the Mainline, Wayne PA with an e-mail to Rev. Alan Crippen: acrippen@johnjayinstitute.org

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